Wanted to Purchase another light

[Gavind3]

Hello everyone, I wanted to purchase another light for my 40-gallon reef tank. I currently have 64 watts above the tank. I read recently that reef tanks usually have more watts per gallon than I currently have. Would it be wise to purchase another one of the lights and get 32 more watts making my total wattage 96?

 

[mdb_talon]

It really depends on more factors than just watts/gallon. The type of light, the spread of the light, etc. The other big factor is what you plan to keep. Looking at what you have in there it looks like almost everything can (and is) doing well in lower light. The only exception that I can see is the anenome which generally does need higher light. However the par from your existing light may be just fine for it in some areas of the tank (and probably why it looks to have settled in near the middle of the tank and top of the rockwork).

 

[Grayskull01]

What brand light do you have Gavind3? I'm apparently WAY underpowered and need to add/upgrade.

 

[Dkmoo]

Watt usage varies a lot between LED, CF, MH and T5. Probably better to buy or rent a par meter and test if the light you have is enough for the corals you have, rather than using any outdated "watt per gallon" rules

 

[jda]

List some dimensions and you will get some good suggestions.

All of that stuff looks OK. You sure that you need more? None of that is high light stuff. How about another one of what you have and just double up?

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

nothing in the tank need high par. it would not hurt to double down on your same light if its working for you.

any of the modern lights can light up a tank that size very well